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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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shakey said:
What's needed is the wristband system running alongside some sort of pay per ride system. Maybe a modern alternative to tickets in the form of a pre loaded ride card.

They would need to get the pricing right of course so as not to devalue wristbands, but I believe there are plenty of punters who would come into the pleasure beach for a couple of hours to do a few rides, if the price was right.
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They should follow Fantasy Island Ingoldmells' example. They have both (tiered) wristbands and a card system.
 
During the ticket days I only had been on a couple of rides in the park as my parents couldn’t afford it. I remember going on the American football bumper cars, the maze and on the cable cars. We mainly went round the Blackpool Tower and Louis Tussaud's wax museum and seeing the lights every October half term up to 1995. I didn’t go back to Blackpool to 2000 when I went on a drinking weekender we spend a day on the pleasure beach and we brought wristbands. So that was really the 1st time I got to go on the Big One and the PlayStation. Valhalla was built but was still in the testing stages so I planned a lads weekend away to Blackpool for the August bank holiday. Valhalla was out of this world back then with its theming, effects and design. It was up there as the best dark ride is the world . We went every year during the WoW weekends up to 2010 but within 10 years Valhalla was a poor condition with many areas you could easily tell you were in a warehouse. What was it like last year? In the ticket days the park was full of rides every little space was filled with a attraction but so much has been removed now and not replaced.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Valhalla was out of this world back then with its theming, effects and design. It was up there as the best dark ride is the world . We went every year during the WoW weekends up to 2010 but within 10 years Valhalla was a poor condition with many areas you could easily tell you were in a warehouse. What was it like last year?
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Valhalla was dreadful last year. I only hope that they restore it to its former glory during the refurbishment.
 
If Valhalla last year was "dreadful", then I can only imagine with wonderment about what it must have been like in 2000, because I rode it last August and while I personally found the level of wetness a bit too much, and I also found sitting in a small pool of water for the entire ride mildly uncomfortable, some of the effects were incredibly impressive!

I must admit, I don't think Valhalla is anywhere near my favourite water ride for the aforementioned reasons, but as a dark ride, I thought it was quite impressive!
 
Valhalla would have been much more successful and sustainable as a dark ride, possibly with an enclosed coaster segment.

It has always been far far too wet and the water effects are a big part of what makes the ride so unreliable and expensive to maintain / run.

A dark ride / coaster would have a throughput higher than 300pph as well.
 
D4n said:
Valhalla would have been much more successful and sustainable as a dark ride, possibly with an enclosed coaster segment.

It has always been far far too wet and the water effects are a big part of what makes the ride so unreliable and expensive to maintain / run.

A dark ride / coaster would have a throughput higher than 300pph as well.
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So if they'd stuck with Intamin and kept the Viking theme and many of the non-water effects, but built, say, a Multi Motion Dark Ride (this model here: https://www.intaminworldwide.com/project/pharaohs-fury/), then you don't think the ride would be having so many problems now?

Or if it were an enclosed coaster, one could have argued that it was the spiritual successor to Space Invader 2!
EDIT: Admittedly, I'm not sure this model existed when Valhalla was built, but I hope you get my general idea.
 
Hi Guys. I'm new to the whole Towers Street but from reading through some of the posts, I can agree with you all that Valhalla was in a really bad condition last year. However, does anyone think it's refurbishment is going to be delayed?
 
Yes.
Welcome mate.
The materials to do the job are not available.
The staff to do the work are at home.
The park have no income at all to pay for the work.
When they do reopen, takings will be limited, and all income will go on staff wages, not Valhalla repairs, sadly.
2022 at the earliest I think, if at all.
 
@rob666 If all staff have been furloughed (I didn't think they had?), then that should provide some welcome easing of the costs associated wth payroll.

With some of the work already in train, there will be some level of financial commitment but unsure how much. Cost will factor and could kill it, for sure. I am less worried about time, given it's only May.

Anyhow, healthy competition...

TheCarousel_BlackpoolPleasureBeach_YearOfTheRC_Poster.jpg
 
Plastic Person said:
When did the PMBO actually open? I know it had a fairly lengthy period of softs before the official ceremony. Looking at that voucher, I suspect it might well have been May 22nd?
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The PMBO's official opening was on the 28th May 1994 to the public. I think a few weeks in advance when the rollercoaster itself had been completed with the trains, though not the station, Geoffrey Thompson and a few of his guests were the first people to ride it.
 
Back a few posts...
Don't know if all the staff are off Rick, just know most are.
Alton vouchers used at Blackpool, cant remember that!
Rides were around a quid a ride when the Big One opened.
Makes recent wristbands look good value doesnt it.
 
rob666 said:
Back a few posts...
Don't know if all the staff are off Rick, just know most are.
Alton vouchers used at Blackpool, cant remember that!
Rides were around a quid a ride when the Big One opened.
Makes recent wristbands look good value doesnt it.
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I can't think why someone would not buy a wristband these days, especially if they want to experience Icon. Fair enough there may be some people who only love Chinese Puzzle Maze and River Caves (happy 115th birthday) but how long will it be before the system of one entry fee comes into place like other theme parks have?
 
I’ve no idea how many tickets and park entry tickets they sell, but if they scrapped it and just did the one price approach they would actually save a fortune.

Firstly you wouldn’t need to print wristbands (saves money on printing), most people book online therefore they would have a e-ticket and would scan them selves. This then means you can remove the majority of the staff from the wristband collection building, as they wouldn’t be needed, you’ll just need some for people buying on the day.

Then each ride has a turnstyle and usually a staff member, removing the wristbands removes the scanners and then a staff member from each ride, also saving a fortune on staffing.
 
djtruefitt said:
Then each ride has a turnstyle and usually a staff member, removing the wristbands removes the scanners and then a staff member from each ride, also saving a fortune on staffing.
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I wonder how many staff members you’d actually be able to remove on rides, as the turnstile staff member on many of the rides deals with height checks, Speedy Pass merging and disabled access too.
 
The Beach is a large seaside funfair, not a theme park.
Often visited by family groups spanning three or four generations in the school holidays, I would guess that the majority of secondary spending is done by non riders...who hang around the arcades, bars and food stalls while the younger generations go on the rides.
If it went fully "pop", they would lose out overall.
Mid season weekdays are often busy with old gits hanging round the bars.
Oh, they were the days.
 
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